Sicaron
Sicaron is a fictional language created by Slayermoon for a novel in progress, which takes place in a future where the United States of America has long since broken up. In the story, English has become altered in different ways in the various new nations of North America. Sicaron is the language of Sicaro, a new nation in western North America, and one with a strong national identity at that. Orthography Despite being derived from American English, Sicaron is written in the Cyrillic script, like Russian. The Sicaron alphabet consists of 29 letters, named and pronounced as follows: *А а - аь a low central vowel, like a'' in ''taco *Б б - би b voiced bilabial stop, like b'' in ''binge *В в - ви v voiced labiodental fricative, like v'' in ''vine *Ҕ ҕ - еҕ ŋ velar nasal, like ng in lung *Г г - ги ɡ voiced velar stop, like g'' in ''green *Д д - ди d voiced alveolar stop, like d'' in ''dark *Е е - еь ɛ low-mid front unrounded vowel, like e'' in ''smell *Ұ ұ - ұаь w bilabial-velar semivowel, like w'' in ''weed *Ж ж - жеь ʒ voiced palatoälveolar fricative, like si in lesion *З з - зед z voiced alveolar fricative, like z'' in ''zone *И и - и i high front unrounded vowel, like ee in sleep *К к - кеь k voiceless velar stop, like c'' in ''corn *Л л - ел ɫ velar-alveolar lateral, like ll in American dull *М м - ем m bilabial nasal, like m'' in ''mine *Н н - ен n alveolar nasal, like n'' in ''north *О о - оұ ɔ low-mid back rounded vowel, like aw in British raw *П п - пи p voiceless bilabial stop, like p'' in ''pitch *Р р - ар ɻ retroflex semivowel, like r'' in American ''rip *С с - ес s voiceless alveolar fricative, like s'' in ''south *Т т - ти t voiceless alveolar stop, like t'' in ''torch *У у - у u high back rounded vowel, like oo in spoon *Ф ф - еф f voiceless labiodental fricative, like f'' in ''finch *Х х - хеь h voiceless glottal fricative, like h'' in ''hold *Ц ц - цеь ʦ voiceless alveolar affricate, like tz in quartz *Ч ч - чи ʧ voiceless palatoälveolar affricate, like ch in cheese *Ш ш - аш ʃ voiceless palatoälveolar fricative, like sh in shell *Ь ь - ьу j palatal semivowel, like y'' in ''yoke *Ю ю - ю y high front rounded vowel, like u'' in French ''tu *Я я - яц œ low-mid front rounded vowel, like ö'' in German ''Löffel Note: All vowels are pronounced clearly and distinctly, never reduced to a schwa as in English or Russian. The voiceless stops К, П and Т are always aspirated—that is: released with a puff of air—before a vowel, Ұ or Р (К and П also before Л or Ь) except after С, Ц, Ч or Ш. The alveolar stops Д and Т are never reduced to a flap as in American English, but are always clearly enunciated as in British English. There are five diphthongs, which are considered vowel-semivowel pairings: *аұ aw like ou in loud *аь aj like i'' in ''kind *еь ɛj like ai in pain *оұ ɔw like o'' in ''gross *оь ɔj like oi in void Phonemic Drift from English English words generally, but not always, follow a given pattern as they evolve into Sicaron words. Stressed English vowel phonemes generally become the following Sicaron vowels or diphthongs: *''a'' in taco > а *''a'' in mast > я *''ai'' in paint > еь *''air'' in hair > ер *''ar'' in hard > ар *''e'' in smell > е *''ee'' in sweet > и *''eer'' in beer > ир *''i'' in squid > ю *''i'' in kind > аь *''o'' in knot > а *''oi'' in void > оь *''oa'' in road > оұ *''ou'' in loud > аұ *''ore'' in snore > ор *''u'' in bun > о *''ur'' in burn > яр *''oo'' in hook > у *''oo'' in room > у Consonant phonemes generally evolve into their soundalike Sicaron counterparts with the following exceptions: *''f'' in finch > ф **''fl'' in flower > вл, not фл **''fr'' in fright > вр, not фр *''j'' in joke > ж, not дж *''th'' in them > з *''th'' in theater > ц, except: **''thr'' in thrash > жр **''thw'' in thwart > зұ It should be remembered that these are only general trends. There are exceptions. Phonotactics Every vowel (А Е И О У Ю Я) forms the core of its own syllable, and whenever two adjacent vowels appear adjacent in a word, they’re considered to be in separate syllables. The following consonant clusters are permitted at the beginning of a syllable, before the vowel: Б БҰ БЛ БР БЬ В ВҰ ВЛ ВР ВЬ Г ГҰ ГЛ ГР ГЬ Д ДҰ ДР Ұ Ж ЖР З ЗҰ К КҰ КЛ КР КЬ Л М МЬ Н П ПҰ ПЛ ПР ПЬ Р С СҰ СК СКҰ СКЛ СКР СКЬ СЛ СМ СМЬ СН СП СПЛ СПР СПЬ СТ СТР СФ Т ТР ТҰ Ф ФҰ ФЛ ФР ФЬ Х Ц Ч Ш ШЛ ШМ ШН ШР Ь. The following consonant clusters are permitted at the end of a syllable, after the vowel: Б БД БЗ В ВД ВЗ Ҕ ҔД ҔЗ ҔК ҔС ҔСТ ҔТ Г ГД ГЗ Д ДЖ ДЗ Ұ ҰБ ҰБД ҰБЗ ҰВ ҰВД ҰВЗ ҰҔ ҰГ ҰГД ҰГЗ ҰД ҰДЖ ҰДЗ ҰЖ ҰЖД ҰЗ ҰЗД ҰК ҰКС ҰКТ ҰМ ҰМД ҰМЗ ҰН ҰНД ҰНЗ ҰНТ ҰП ҰПС ҰПТ ҰС ҰСТ ҰТ ҰФ ҰФС ҰФТ ҰЦ ҰЦТ ҰЧ ҰЧТ ҰШ ҰШТ Ж ЖД З ЗД К КС КСТ КТ Л ЛБ ЛБД ЛБЗ ЛВ ЛВД ЛВЗ ЛД ЛДЖ ЛДЗ ЛЖ ЛЖД ЛЗ ЛЗД ЛК ЛКС ЛКТ ЛМ ЛМД ЛМЗ ЛН ЛНД ЛНЗ ЛП ЛПС ЛПТ ЛС ЛСК ЛСТ ЛТ ЛФ ЛФС ЛФТ ЛЦ ЛЦТ ЛЧ ЛЧТ ЛШ ЛШТ М МД МЗ МП МС МСК МСТ МТ МФ Н НД НЖ НЗ НС НСК НСТ НТ НШ НШТ П ПС ПСК ПСТ ПТ Р РБ РБД РБЗ РВ РВД РВЗ РГ РГД РГЗ РД РДЖ РДЗ РЖ РЖД РЗ РЗД РК РКС РКТ РМ РМД РМЗ РН РНД РНЗ РП РПС РПТ РС РСК РСТ РТ РФ РФС РФТ РЦ РЦТ РЧ РЧТ РШ РШТ С СК СП СТ Т Ф ФС ФСК ФСТ ФТ Ц ЦК ЦТ Ч ЧТ Ш ШТ Ь ЬБ БЬД ЬБЗ ЬВ ЬВД ЬВЗ ЬҔ ЬҔД ЬҔЗ ЬГ ЬГД ЬГЗ ЬД ЬДЖ ЬДЗ ЬЖ ЬЖД ЬЗ ЬЗД ЬК ЬКС ЬКТ ЬМ ЬМД ЬМЗ ЬН ЬНД ЬНЗ ЬНС ЬНТ ЬП ЬПС ЬПТ ЬС ЬСК ЬСТ ЬТ ЬФ ЬФС ЬФТ ЬЦ ЬЦТ ЬЧ ЬЧТ ЬШ ЬШТ. The semivowel Ұ never appears adjacent to the vowel У in a word, nor does the semivowel Ь ever appear adjacent to the vowel И. Stress and Tone Primary stress in Sicaron is always on the first syllable, with all subsequent syllables maintaining enough stress to keep their vowels distinct. Intonation is used to mark the ends of words and sentences, emphasize certain words and mark yes/no questions. The first syllable of a word has a slightly higher tone than all subsequent syllables, which becomes considerably higher when the word is emphasized. The last syllable of a yes/no question has a sharp rise from its normal tone, while that of any other sentence has a sharp drop from its normal tone. Verbs Sicaron verbs have no tense, instead relying on modal verbs to indicate past as well as future actions. The present tense uses the plain form of the verb, whether or not it would be progressive in English: ‹Аь ұерк ят ет баҕк.› I work at the bank. I’m working at the bank. Sicaron uses no verb for the copula in the present: ‹Аь Миранда ин ет циатреҕ.› I’m Miranda in the play. There are two past modal verbs: ‹Дюд› is used for an action that has been completed, while ‹яр› is used for an action in progress at a time in the past: ‹Аь дюд рид ет бук.› I read the book (and finished). ‹Аь яр рид ет бук.› I was reading the book (when something happened). ‹Яр› is also the past copula: ‹Аь яр Проспероұ ин ет циатреҕ.› I was Prospero in the play. There are also two future modal verbs: ‹Шал› is used to indicate an action that will be completed by a certain time, while ‹шалби› is used to indicate that an action will be in progress at a given time. ‹Дем шал араьв ин ет морниҕ.› They’ll arrive in the morning.